1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to equipment for shredding, harvesting, destroying or otherwise processing aquatic vegetation. More specifically, the present invention concerns an airboat provided with an aquatic vegetation shredding assembly.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Aquatic vegetation can be devastating to both marine operations and the aquatic ecosystem. Unfortunately, most conventional expedients are ineffective in destroying or otherwise controlling such vegetation. These problems have previously been identified in our U.S. Letters Patents, both of which are assigned of record to the assignee of the present invention and are identified as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,920 entitled APPARATUS FOR DESTROYING AQUATIC VEGETATION; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,004 entitled AQUATIC VEGETATION DESTROYER.
Our prior inventions address these problems by providing, among other things, a design that is particularly successful in delivering vegetation to the shredding assembly and a design for shredding vegetation both generally at the water surface and well below the water surface to ensure that at least most of the plant is shredded. We have now determined that, in some instances, it would also be beneficial to have an aquatic vegetation shredder that is particularly designed for use in shallow water and in no water conditions (e.g., changes in the water level of a body of water may leave aquatic vegetation growing on dry land).